Inlove with Thai in Los Banos

First time I ate at this restaurant I fell in love with the food (and the budget as well!).

Authentic Thai cuisine on an affordable budget in the heart of the busy UP Los Banos street. A hidden treasure of their place.

























Ning's Thai

How to get there: The place is along the road going to UPLB campus. It's near to another famous spot on UPLB which is Mernels (popularly known for their tasty chocolate cakes. Currently the place is under renovation, you might overlooked the small sign bearing its name. If you got lost, just ask any of the people in the street. Surely they know where this palce is =P.

What to expect; Err...waht else..authentic thai cuisine!

Budget: 200 pesos is enough.Though the more you are, the lesser you'll pay.

Here are the sample of the food in their menu:




















Im sorry but i forgot the name of the food that we've ate (we actually just point on the picture posted on the wall for the food to be ordered) but if you're eating here this rice bagoong with mangga with scrambled egg with pork bits is a must-order food!. Kanin palang ulam na! And since this is a Thai cuisine, expect that its hot and spicy. Yummy!



















Another food that we've ordered is like the Thailand version of our pansit, though its not that much the same as our pansit but the taste is also delicious! Their pansit has basil and peanut and Thai sauce. And of course, it is also spicy but with a little bit of sweetness.




















For 55 pesos, you'll get a 5 pieces pritong lumpia from Ning Thai. But wait there's more to a lumpia. Inside is the commonly laman which is the toge but there is also some meat plus another kind of vegetable that I cant distinguish whether singkamas (turnip) or raddish. But what the heck, as long as its delicious Im good. It is serve crispy hot and better be eaten while hot. The sauce is a combination of soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, onion and cucumber. Yummy!

All in all, the experience of eating again (my first time was in Fenruary, the second time was today) is truly worth remembering and you'll always feels like it's worth visiting again pag napapadpad ka sa Los Banos!

Trippings around Manila (and a little bit of history)

Last Friday, something unexpected happened to me. I made a quick trip around the City of Manila early in the morning. Yep, that's right morning time on a work week day. Thank God I need to go to Manila for my medical exam and got rejected since my passport was tampered (im renewing my passport now actually) and since i told my boss that I'll be at the office after lunch I had a lot of time to roam around Manila and discover the beauty (and madness i.e. the traffic) it has to offer.

1. First PitStop, Bookworm's heaven: The National Library
For weeks now im looking for this particular book "By Sword and Fire" by Alfonso Aluit. I've searched and inquire in almost all Powerbooks and National bookstore here in the south and in Makati area but sadly this book is already extinct (it was published last 1994).Still i didn't let my enthusiasm go down and I tried looking it in National Library of the Philippines. Luckily it's available there!
It's like Christmas comes to me that day.
Im so happy for my discovery. Though i can't borrowed the book because I dont have a library card (I refuse to get a id picture outside, heck i have a lot of 1 x 1 picture at home) and I can't bring it home either (its prohibited). So I scheduled myself on June 6, the whole day will be devoted in reading this book at the library.


2. Second Pitstop:Roaming around the Agrifina Circle
After National Library, I went to the Luneta Park area, and since im not too familiar with the area, I just found myself in the Agrifina circle. Great view if your in that area coz you'll have a clear view of the Ionic structure of Department of Tourism's and the National Museum.

Department of Tourism's building: ganda noh?!


















One tip, if you want to enjoy the scenic beauty and tranquility of Luneta park, better visit the place during morning time of a weekday. Im sure you'll enjoy you're walk in the park =D.


And since im already in the area, i've tried to enter the museum, but alas, the museum will not open till 10:00am. Darn! It's only 8:35 when i arrived on the place!Oh well, might as well visit the place some other time.

By the way, the Museum's office hours is 10:00am-5:00pm Wednesday to Sunday.

National Museum building, where the Philippine artifacts are located



















Side entrance of the building




















Back view of the building




















The other building of the National Museum, where the collection of prized Philippine paintings are located




















Front view of the building.
And since i can't enter the premises of the building, i just content myself in looking at it from the outside and marvel the design of this buildings.

Third Pitstop: the Post Office Building.
Last but not the least, my trip won't be complete without visiting the famous Post Office building in Lawton. The majestic building on the side of Pasig river serves as a reminder on how mighty and important the Postal system was before. And since only a few people use snail mail, the building is not overcrowded same as before. This is indeed one of the beuatiful buildings Manila has.


Side portion of the building

Blurred picture of the hallway

Marker posted by the National Historical Institute of the Philippines.

Front view of the building

Old typewriter/postal machines used in their office.

Impressive as it may seen today but this buildings is not the original structure. It was re-constructed from the original plan since the original building was destroyed during World War 2, especially during the battle of Manila wherein the city was totally devastated by the retreating army of the Japanese and advancing forces of the Americans.

There's a lot of interesting buildings and spots in Manila like the Metropolitan Theater, Manila City Hall, the UST and FEU campuses, Malacanang Palace, the whole Intramuros area, Bayview and Manila Hotel, Quiapo, Dela Salle college, and many more that made their share during the war.

After I've read the book of Mr. Aluit, I''ll tell you more about it!